Live Through This: rock nyc’s Top Concert Picks 9-10-18 – 9-16-18

The last time I saw Van Morrison at Forest Hills was a disaster and not because of anything Van did but because I was stuck behind four six foot plus frat boys who sang along at the top of their voices and spoke over the songs when they weren’t singing. Completely killed the show. This time I hope to get luckier because otherwise it was an ultra smooth Van concert. As for opener Willie Nelson, I saw him around 30 years and was so bored I’ve never quite recovered. Still, neither of us is getting any younger. Wednesday at Forest Hills Stadium.

Thursday – Ringo Starr and His All Starr Band – Radio City Music Hall – Really, it is time for Starr to knock the hopeless All Starr concept right on the head. If I wanted to see Richard Page and Steve Lukather…. except I wouldn’t.

Friday – 5 Seconds of Summer: Meet You There Tour – PNC Bank Arts Center – They were meant to steal One Direction’s left at the altar of bubblegum girl audience and did so but really, mostly in Australia.

Friday – Childish Gambino, Rae Sremmurd – Madison Square Garden – I am super down for this one. Gambino had a great year which teetered midway so this should be interesting.

Friday – Lloyd Banks – Mercury Lounge

Saturday – The Memory Lane Tour feat. R. Kelly & Tank – Hulu At MSG – Kelly’s problem isn’t that he pees on girls, or whatever perversion he’s into, it is that his skills as a soul songwriter in the shadow of Stevie Wonder has diminished so much since Chocolate Factory in 2003.

Saturday – David Byrne, Tune-Yards – Forest Hills – Alyson Camus recently wrote (here) “It was chaos invading a vacuum, and it was beauty making sense of chaos, thanks to the stop-making-sense man.” Assume I will take a far more jaundiced view of the performance.